Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. There is no scriptural evidence
that Abraham was any different than the pagan peoples that he
was associated with when the Lord appeared to him and gave
him the promise of his blessing and an immense inheritance beyond
his wildest dream. He was never given one condition
to fulfill, but the Lord announced his intention to bless him and
commanded him to depart from the land of his father and to
dwell in the land which the Lord gave him by promise. All of the
blessings of God which were given to him were simply yea and amen,
apart from any action or obedience on the part of Abraham. Abraham's
blessing was determined and applied solely by God, and his actions
of obedience were the result of his calling and the mercy
of God alone. Such is the case with all of
the recipients of his blessing in all ages. Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord and built an ark according to the purpose
of God. The Lord shed him in it, and delivered him from the
destruction around him. In what could he boast? The religious
world is full of those who are convinced that they can by their
own efforts enter into the kingdom of God, and then while there
merit greater or lesser consideration on the part of the Lord by their
own degrees of faithfulness and obedience. Some, on the other
hand, tell us that it is indeed all of God's grace for a man
to be given entrance into the kingdom, but once he is there,
it is all up to him as to whether he gains or forfeits God's blessings. They all have this or that code
by which each one should order his life, but most often it is
centered around the Mosaic law in some fashion or other, whether
in Sabbath keeping or a reverence for rights and duties of one
type or other. The early church at Galatia was
beset by the Judaizers, who sought to add something of man's doing
to that which was perfectly completed by Christ. Circumcision was given
to Abraham as a sign of God's promise, just as the rainbow
was given to Noah. Yet these legalists turned it
into a duty which must be performed by those who were the heirs of
the promise. Paul's trumpet never sounded an uncertain sound on
this issue, and he clearly understood and taught that the promise supersedes
all else, even the law of Moses, which was given because of sin
and was added at a later time than the giving of the promise,
which was first manifested in the condemnation of Satan in
Genesis 3.15, and then established in his pledge to Abraham and
all of his spiritual posterity. Paul said, And this I say, that
the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the
law which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul,
that it should make the promise of none effect. This covenant
of promise was given to Christ and all those who were hidden
in him before the foundation of the world. Now to Abraham
and his seed were the promises made. He saith not into seeds
as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.
Abraham's every blessing was given to him on the basis of
being a son of God, when he was yet wandering in Ur of the Chaldees.
He was received not on the basis of his person or character, but
because he was in Christ according to the purpose of Almighty God.
And so it is even in the present time, those who are called out
of darkness by his grace and calls to believe in Christ as
the Redeemer, are born not by the will of the flesh, but by
God, who determined to bless them in Christ from the beginning.
The blessings promised to Abraham were not conditional upon his
actions. Rather, it was because he was
given to Christ, who had undertook his redemption and imputed his
righteousness to him before Abraham ever drew breath, insofar as
the purpose of God was concerned. In order to fulfill this promise
which preceded the creation, Christ did take upon himself
a body of flesh and blood, and did taste death for every man,
which was given to him by promise, while yet the sun had not given
its first ray of light. In a real body he did accomplish
a real redemption in being made sin for us, justifying his own
people on the basis of the same law to which they were made subject,
and which they had, without exception, disobeyed. Christ is the author
and the finisher of this promise, by which all of the sons of God
have ever been blessed. The author in its design and
the finisher in its accomplishment in time. But Christ being come
and high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. And for this
cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means
of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the First Testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. What could man add to that which
is already perfect? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.